Retrofitting sun visors with homelink and vanity lights

[EricCR]

Hi folks,

 

I got my hands on a pair of sun visors with vanity lights and homelink (my SE only had an unlit passenger side mirror). I was hoping Nissan kept the wiring harness but no such luck. The service manual is a bit cryptic on where the original harness was coming from.

 

My assumption is that in LE's the roof console acts as a junction box and there's short wires going to each sun visor from there. Or do those wires originate all the way from under the dash? Would everything work if I just tap into the roof console reading lights?

Edited February 29 by EricCR

[hawairish]

FSM says the harness (M62, white w/ 6 wires) is located on the passenger side, near the A-pillar.  May have to pull the glove box to see would be my guess.  The Smart Entrance Control Unit supplies the power for it (from pin 50, red w/white wire to M62) and is above the pedals somewhere.  The FSM indicates that the harness that connects to the illuminated visor (R5, red w/ 2 wires) is the same harness used to power the Homelink transceiver.  Everything should run up the passenger A-pillar.

 

Refs:

https://www.nicoclub.com/service-manual?fsm=Pathfinder%2F2003%2Fel.pdf

EL-371: Homelink diagram

EL-101: vanity/illumination diagram

EL-522/523: main harness layout (M62 in cell F1)

EL-532: A-pillar/roof wiring locations

[EricCR]

Thanks, hawairish. I saw the schematics but couldn't make much of them so thanks for translating that into something I can understand. I'll see if there's something going up the A-pillar. If there's no wires  I'll just use the spot/reading lights for power. According to the service manual they are connected to the same "power saving" circuit as the rest of the interior lights so I should have no problems with parasitic power draws.

[hawairish]

Correct, that 50 pin powers other similar accessories.

 

If I'm being honest, though, I have the Homelink and don't use it because of how it's wired.  It's basically always on.  It should have been wired to be on an ACC or ON circuit, in my opinion.  Aside from being in plain sight, just takes someone breaking the window or opening the door to press the button and access to the garage.

[EricCR]

Good call. I have homelink in my old BMW and it's only powered in ACC and ON. The new sun visors are mostly there for the wife. She's been using the Pathy a lot while she waits for a new EV (gasp). You know how having no mirrors is a tragedy of biblical proportions to them, so homelink is secondary. I'll see if there's anything ACC powered that I can tap instead. Alas, I believe everything in the roof console when you don't have compass/external temp display is always powered too.

[EricCR]

Well, I'm done retrofitting the sun visors. It was relatively easy with the only hassle being routing the wires through the small holes in the roof. There is a reinforcing structure just above the windshield that prevents you from easily reaching out and grabbing the wire. To make that part easy you would need to remove the whole headliner, which is something I wasn't willing to do. In any case, it's manageable once you get the hang of it. The rest is just splitting wires and testing everything. I tapped into the reading lights power and ground as I planned but on the console's side. The main harness was left untouched.

 

I already programmed two garage motors. BTW, @hawairish, not sure if homelink is always powered in R50s as they came from the factory, but they way I wired it (to the power saver interior lighting circuit) it cuts power after 10-15 min so it's not that bad. What I don't know is if someone forcefully opens a door (without the key and with the alarm armed) if the car will be dumb enough to "wake up". If it does, then there's still that risk you mentioned.

[hawairish]

9 hours ago, EricCR said:

BTW, @hawairish, not sure if homelink is always powered in R50s as they came from the factory, but they way I wired it (to the power saver interior lighting circuit) it cuts power after 10-15 min so it's not that bad. What I don't know is if someone forcefully opens a door (without the key and with the alarm armed) if the car will be dumb enough to "wake up". If it does, then there's still that risk you mentioned.

 

That was my assumption, too.  Well, not really an assumption, since the Owner's Manual says it turns off after 30 minutes.  But, because that function is seemingly tied to the battery saver function and not as a security measure, it's why I don't trust it.  Per the FSM:

 

Quote

Interior Lamp/Luggage Room Lamp/Spot Lamp/Vanity Mirror Illumination

The lamps turn off automatically when the interior lamp, spot lamp or/and vanity mirror illumination are illuminated with the ignition key in the OFF position, if the lamp remains lit by the door switch open signal or if the lamp switch is in the ON position for more than 30 minutes.  After lamps are turned off by the battery saver system, the lamps illuminate again when:

• Door is locked or unlocked with keyfob or door lock/unlock switch or door key cylinder.
• Ignition switch ON.
• Door is opened or closed,
• Key is inserted or removed into ignition key cylinder.

 

The door opening is the main one, but I also think any appropriate metal object --key or screwdriver-- in the cylinder might also complete the circuit.  This description is also specifically for when the battery saver mode is activated.  It's not clear if this applies when battery saver mode is not activated, or even if the security is enabled.  My thought is that anything that enables the interior lighting also enables the vanity lamps and Homelink.  If true, that means just switching the dome light from Off or Door to On or pressing the door unlock switch will wake everything, even if the door is not opened (pretty sure the alarm still sounds if the door is unlocked from the inside after being armed).

 

Main thing for me is that there are just too many conditions.  It should just be disabled when no key is present.  I don't even like knowing it remains active for 30 minutes...why so long?  Why not 5 minutes?  I don't even want a dome light left on for 30 minutes.   

[Slartibartfast]

I would not expect the battery saver to kick in if the circuit wasn't loaded, but I don't know the R50 body control logic, or BCMs in general.

 

This should be easy to test, though. Roll the window down, shut the door, wait an hour, then reach in through the window and hit the garage door button.

 

Our garage door openers clip onto the visor and have a battery inside, no lockouts whatsoever. I assume the idea is that if you have the remote, it's because you park the truck inside the garage. But depending on your neighborhood, and your tendency to park outside, yeah, I can see why you'd want that circuit dark when the key is out.

 

Surely it wouldn't be that tough to rewire the Homelink to something ignition-switched. I would check the wiring for the temp/compass display, surely that's got an ignition-switched 12v feed that you could tap into. If the Homelink guts are similar to the clip-on clickers we've got, the amp draw from it should be bugger-all.

[EricCR]

17 hours ago, Slartibartfast said:

Our garage door openers clip onto the visor and have a battery inside, no lockouts whatsoever

 

Oh damn, but of course! Those things are even less safe and I don't think anyone cares to take them off the car. If anything, I doubt someone would notice the little panel with 3 buttons in the sun visor any more than they would notice the massive generic garage door remotes.

 

I'll still do some testing with the factory alarm activated and the window opened just for fun and to see how smart the battery saver circuit is.

[hawairish]

23 hours ago, Slartibartfast said:

This should be easy to test, though. Roll the window down, shut the door, wait an hour, then reach in through the window and hit the garage door button.

 

Our garage door openers clip onto the visor and have a battery inside, no lockouts whatsoever. I assume the idea is that if you have the remote, it's because you park the truck inside the garage. But depending on your neighborhood, and your tendency to park outside, yeah, I can see why you'd want that circuit dark when the key is out.

 

I'm wanting to test, but my truck is still apart enough (battery out, multiple sensors and harnesses disconnected) that I can't.

 

We avoid keeping the remote in our vehicles when they're parked outside, but otherwise, yeah, our primary vehicle is garage kept (except when a SAS project is underway, lol).  I have smaller remotes that fit on keychains.